Playing in their final games of the regular season, the middle school Cougars earned a pair of wins over the visiting St. Mary’s Angels, of Whitesville.
The seventh-graders got 13 points from Tayden Logsdon and 12 from Mason Cariel as they won 40-26 to finish 14-8 for the season.
The eighth-graders scored the final nine points in the game to turn a four-point deficit into a five point win, 43-38.
SEVENTH-GRADE GAME
The Angels held an early 5-3 lead, but a three-pointer by Houston Brooks at the 1:56 mark of the first quarter put the Cougars in front to stay. They led 9-6 at the end of the first period.
The Cougar defense then held the Angels to just three points in the second period to take a 17-9 lead into the halftime intermission.
When Cariel hit 1-of-2 at the line with 1:49 left in the third quarter, the Cougars held their largest lead of the night, 18 points at 31-13. They led by 13 points, 31-18 heading into the final period of play.
A 6-0 Angels run near the start of the fourth quarter pulled them to within seven points of the lead, 33-26 with 3:15 left to play, but they would not score again. The Cougars then closed out the game by scoring the last seven points.
Three Cougar players, Brooks, Landon Haycraft, and Grayson Chaffins all finished with three points, while Jeron Van Meter, Isaiah Poteet, and Samuel Cleamons all had two points to complete the scoring.
EIGHTH-GRADE GAME
The Cougars opened the game by scoring the first six points, and led by as many as seven points before ending the first period leading by five, 18-13.
A three-pointer by the Angels’ Gavin Howard tied the game at 22-22 with 2:56 left in the first half. Another three-ball by Nolan Mills with 11 seconds left gave the Angels their first lead of the night 27-24, but Tayden Logsdon buried a three at the buzzer and the game was tied 27-27 at the half.
When Howard buried another three at the 2:09 mark, the Angels held their largest lead of the night, six points at 35-29. The Cougars then scored the last five points of the period and trailed by one, 35-34 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Howard buried his last three with 4:47 left to play to give the Angels a four-point edge, 38-34, but those would be the last points the Angels would score. Nolan Hornbeck scored seven points in the Cougars’ 9-0 run closing out the game.
Howard led the Angels in scoring with 14 points, including four three-pointers, and Denver Dickens scored 11.
Hornbeck made it a double-double night by scoring a game-high 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. River Blanton scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Logsdon finished with six points.
Brayden Childress finished with four points and he added eight rebounds. Brayden Renfrow scored three points while Dillon Horn had two to complete the scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
